Lamb of God: ‘It's a Tradition in Heavy Metal to Have Political Commentary'

The American metallers’ guitarist Mark Morton talks about the making of their new self-titled album, keeping busy during a pandemic and solo material

- Anurag Tagat

Lamb of God riffsmith Mark Morton has had a busy 12 months by any ordinary stretch. It was in March 2019 that his debut solo album Anesthetic released and then in January, he released a follow-up EP Ether. Counting just those two records, the guitarist had worked with some of the best voices in heavy music – the late Chester Bennington from Linkin Park, Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy, Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy, Howard Jones (previously of Killswitch Engage) and Lzzy Hale, amongst others.

With Lamb of God’s self-titled album out last month, it’s been a whirlwind and Morton’s just realized it. “When I think about it, when you lay it all out like that, I work a lot. And I just don’t stop working lately,” he says over the phone from Virginia. The starting point for most Lamb of God songs, including the ones on this formidable 10-track album, is Morton and co-guitarist Willie Adler’s riffs and ideas. “We always start with the music first. Willie and I get together and start fleshing out outlines of song musically and instrumentally. And then from there, we build up and the band gets involved, meaning the all of us get involved and start really kind of taking that ball of clay and molding it into what the song is going to be,” Morton says of the process.